C-212, hot & high

Presidential Airways, Inc. of Moyock, NC (now AAR Airlift) uses EADS-CASA 212 and Dash-8 transport aircraft for its work, which is short-haul supply flights in and out of remote locations – including combat zones. It also fields helicopters and other assets. The US military hoped that Presidential would be able to address some of the issues US combat commanders have raised with the need for transport aircraft that can use smaller runways, and land closer to zones of operations. Accordingly, the firm received several contracts from the US government for these services, covering a number of Central Asian countries.

They remain a major provider of fixed-wing, in-theater contract transport – but are no longer the only option, as the USA turns to contractors for both helicopters and fixed-wing support. This article chronicles fixed-wing contracts from 2004 – 2012.

C-9B Skytrain II

In April 2012, King Aerospace, Inc. in Addison, TX receives a not-to-exceed $11.1 million indefinite-delivery requirements contract to support 6 C-9B aircraft. This effort includes base site operations, depot planned maintenance interval inspections, and engine shop visits. Funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders, as they are issued. Work will be performed in Addison, TX (38.5%); Ardmore, OK (35%); Whidbey Island, WA (14%); Cherry Point, NC (8%); and Miami, FL (4.5%), and will run until May 2013. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals, and 2 offers were received by US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD (N00019-12-D-0014).

The C-9Bs are military variants of the Super 30 stretched DC-9 short-haul passenger jet, and were built from the mid-1960s through the mid-1990s. The C-9A Nightingales that once performed aeromedical evacuation have been retired, and the remaining C-9s serve as VIP transports and cargo aircraft. Even so, age is catching up with them. Their Pratt and Whitney JT8-D-9 engines are noisy and inefficient by modern standards, their airframes have many flight-hours on them, and their older cockpit layout and equipment remain a drawback. Many of the C-9s are being replaced by modern, 737-derived C-40s, and there had been plans to retire the C-9s by 2010, but there haven’t been enough C-40s bought to fully replace them.

RAAF C-130J-30, flares

The C-130 Hercules remains one of the longest-running aerospace manufacturing programs of all time. Since 1956, over 40 models and variants have served as the tactical airlift backbone for over 50 nations. The C-130J looks similar, but the number of changes almost makes it a new aircraft. Those changes also created issues; the program has been the focus of a great deal of controversy in America – and even of a full program restructuring in 2006. Some early concerns from critics were put to rest when the C-130J demonstrated in-theater performance on the front lines that was a major improvement over its C-130E/H predecessors. A valid follow-on question might be: does it break the bottleneck limitations that have hobbled a number of multi-billion dollar US Army vehicle development programs?

C-130J customers now include Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, India, Israel, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Norway, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tunisia, and the United States. American C-130J purchases are taking place under both annual budgets and supplemental wartime funding, in order to replace tactical transport and special forces fleets that are flying old aircraft and in dire need of major repairs. This DID FOCUS Article describes the C-130J, examines the bottleneck issue, covers global developments for the C-130J program, and looks at present and emerging competitors:

• The (Private) Labors of Hercules: the C-130J Family
• The C-130J and the 20-ton Bottleneck
• Turbulent Flight: The C-130J Program
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources, incl. emerging competitors & Special Operations requirements
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• US Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek, Director of the Defense Logistics Agency since November 2011, published his revised 2012 guidance [PDF] that conveniently highlights where the changes are. Among them, improved support for reset and force drawdown processes in Afghanistan starts with optimized use of the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), a necessity pointed out on DID just two days ago. Airlift through the NDN (dubbed Northern Distribution Nightmare by Foreign Policy – see also this WaPo map which was drawn before options like use of the Ulyanovsk Russian airport were discussed) is way more expensive than using Pakistan’s GLOC (Ground Lines of Communication) and Karachi port. As in, as much as 3 to 5 times more expensive to ship out about 50,000 vehicles.

• As a side note, when USMC Lieutenant General Frank A. Panter, Jr. discussed options at a recent HASC hearing, he never said Indian but rather NDN, contrarily to bad transcripts floated in the Indian press. How would India even make sense if you glance at a map? It beats us too.

• The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission published a report [PDF] on indigenous weapons development in China’s military modernization. They conclude that many analysts have let themselves being misled and blindsided by trends from past decades that no longer apply. “U.S. analysts and policymakers should expect to see continued advancements in the ability of the PRC to produce modern weapons platforms, and an attendant increase in the operational capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army.”
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G.222/ C-27A

The ultimate goal for Afghanistan’s air force is the ability to support the Afghan National Army against al-Qaeda/ Taliban elements that launch raids within the country, or from across the border with Pakistan. Given Afghanistan’s rugged terrain and sparse infrastructure, however, a decision has been made to make tactical transportation of troops and supplies the Afghanistan National Army Air Corps’ top priority.

That explains US NAVAIR’s efforts to buy more Ukrainian AN-32s, which offered familiar technology, even though the spares situation is less than ideal. On top of that, a 3-way deal has been made involving Italy, which will send some of its Alenia G.222 (C-27A) light transports to Afghanistan, under a refurbishment program conducted by Alenia North America:

• The ANAAF’s C-27A Program
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
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RAF C-17

In 2000 the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a 7-year ‘lease-and-support’ agreement with Boeing and the United States Air Force for the use of 4 Boeing C-17 Globemaster IIIs (3 + 1 “active reserve”) for the period 2001 – 2007, with an option for a possible extension to 9 years. Although it has the ability to operate from unprepared strips, the RAF uses the C-17 as a strategic transport aircraft to established bases, especially those that are far from Britain. The C-17 made its RAF operational debut during the Afghanistan conflict in 2001.

Front line needs soon had the C-17 fleet in high demand, and a combination of an aging C-130K Hercules force and delays to Britain’s 25 22 planned A400M transports stretched the RAF’s transport fleet even more. Instead of extending the C-17 lease, therefore, a deal struck with Boeing in 2006 saw the UK buy all 4 aircraft outright, and add a 5th aircraft to the RAF’s C-17 fleet at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Since then, the fleet has kept on growing. A 6th C-17 was ordered in 2007, a 7th was ordered in 2009, and #8 was ordered and delivered in 2012.

• Contracts & Key Events
• August 2006 Addendum: The Great C-17 Buying Push
• Additional Readings
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C-27J Spartan

When the WALRUS super-heavy cargo airship was canceled, combat commanders complained that front-line airfields were often too short for the C-130 Hercules that make up the USAF’s tactical transport fleet. Delays in buying a small cargo aircraft to fill that role were making that problem worse. Starved of useful help due to USAF-sponsored delays, and the lack of appropriate aircraft in the USAF, the Army carried on with its aging C-23 Sherpas, and repurposed aircraft like the unprotected C-12 Hurons, in order to ferry troops, supplies, and/or very small vehicles within its theaters of operations. From the start the US Army and US Air Force expressed different levels of urgency and priority that led to Congressional SNAFUs and an initial contract award.

JCA could have been worth up to $6 billion before all was said and done, and the finalists were a familiar duo. After EADS-CASA’s CN-235 and a shortened version of Lockheed Martin’s C-130J were disqualified for failing to meet requirements, JCA became yet another international competition between EADS-CASA’s C-295M & Alenia’s C-27J. The C-27J team eventually won the delayed decision in June 2007, and prevailed in the subsequent contract protests from their rivals. What remained unclear was exactly what they had won. The joint-service decision and contract announcement didn’t end the inter-service and Congressional politicking, either, and the contractor side was equally fractious. This FOCUS article covers the JCA competition, and subsequent developments – including the Pentagon’s 2012 push to end the program, and sell its planes:

• Canned Feud: The Transport of Seville vs. the Spartan Salesmen
• Hello, My Baby, Hello, My Honey: The C-27J
  • Room And Bird: The National Guard Angle
• A Great Big Bunch Of You: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Stop, Look, and Hasten: Additional Readings
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C-17 #1 Arrives

In March 2006, the Australian government announced that the Australian Defence Forces would acquire up to 4 new Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlift planes and associated equipment for A$ 2 billion ($1.49 billion then conversion). In April 2011, Australia upped their order to 5 aircraft, and will soon add a 6th plane to their fleet.

Since that first contract, RAAF C-17As have been rolling off the assembly line, arriving on or ahead of schedule, and flying the (un)friendly skies to support Australia’s military and humanitarian efforts around the globe. The first plane arrived in Australia in December 2006, and the 4th plane arrived in March 2008. Even that didn’t mean C-17 expenses were done. Ongoing maintenance, training facilities, and more must still be paid for, and Australia liked the Globemasters so much that it decided to buy more. DID chronicles the entire process, and its associated contracts…

• Australia: Why the C-17? [updated]
• Australia: C-17 Related Contracts & Events [updated]
• Appendix A: A New Day for Boeing’s C-17? (April 2006)
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Norwegian C-130H by
Torbjorn Kjosvold

Back in February 2007, the Norwegian Forsvarsnett said:

“The Armed Forces have six C-130H Hercules transport aircrafts today [DID: 335 skv, out of Oslo-Gardermoen]. These were bought in 1969 and are outdated. Recent updates have made them able to be operational until 2012-15, but it is now known that the planes need further work done to them still. Therefore the Norwegian government has started investigating the possibility of either renting or buying up to four new planes of the type Hercules C-130J.”

Faced with the prospect of further C-130H refurbishment work on one hand, and entreaties by the A400M consortium on the other, Norway needed to decide what to do. They did, and the decision promptly came under political attack – but a deal was done for 4 stretched C-130J-30s, and the final aircraft flew off to Norway in July 2010:

• The Platform: C-130J-30
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
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Aborted landing

In January 2005, the U.S. Navy selected the US101 as the new “Marine One” baseline helicopter, for use by the President of the United States. The US101 is an American variant of AgustaWestland’s successful AW101 multi-mission medium helicopter; it beat out Sikorsky’s S-92 Superhawk, which is already in use as a government VIP transport in countries like South Korea.

That $1.7 billion victory was first endangered, and then destroyed, by ongoing changes from the White House staff. In 2008, the program’s ballooning costs and requirements got a temporary reprieve when US Navy agreed to proceed with the VH-71, despite a cost per aircraft equal or greater than the President’s Air Force One 747s. By June 2009, however, the VH-71 program had shot itself down.

Another round of competition is on the way, and the Pentagon wants to buy 2 different helicopters in the VXX follow-on program. First, however, the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense must agree on the new program’s foundations…

• The New Marine One Helicopter Programs: A History [updated]
• Marine One: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• VH-3/ VH-60 Refurbishment: Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
• Appendix A: VXX 1.0 – The US101
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